Russian forces
The term "Russian forces" refers collectively to the armed forces of the Russian Federation engaged in the invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022. It encompasses the army, air force, artillery and other branches of Russia's Armed Forces operating against Ukrainian troops in occupied territories and along the front line. In Ukrainian and international media, it is used as a neutral collective designation for the Russian side of the conflict, without identifying a specific branch or unit.
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Russian drone strike hits Odesa high-rise, injuring at least seven including two children
Russian forces struck Odesa and Odesa Oblast overnight on September 16–17 with drones and other weapons, damaging a 19-storey residential apartment building and multiple civilian sites. At least seven people were injured across the oblast, including two children, with the casualty count updated multiple times as reports came in.
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Ukraine reports 208 combat clashes on September 16; Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka most active
Ukraine's General Staff reported 208 combat clashes on the front line on September 16, 2026, with the Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka directions identified as the most active sectors. Russian forces carried out 71 airstrikes, dropped 233 guided aerial bombs, deployed 4,704 kamikaze drones, and conducted 1,250 shellings of Ukrainian positions and settlements. The operational update was published as of 22:00 on September 16.
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Russian drone strikes passenger train Kyiv–Mykolaiv; all evacuated, no casualties
Russian forces struck Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) passenger train No. 122 on the Kyiv–Mykolaiv route on the morning of 16 September, using a drone. All passengers, the locomotive crew and train crew had been evacuated in advance after a warning from Ukrzaliznytsia's monitoring team, and no one was injured. Ukrzaliznytsia, together with the Mykolaiv Oblast Military Administration, organized bus transfers to bring 168 passengers to Mykolaiv.
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Russian drone strikes passenger train near Ukrainian-Polish border; diplomatic train with European officials had just left
On the morning of 13 September 2026, a Russian jet-powered mesh drone struck the locomotive of a Kyiv-to-Warsaw passenger train at the Yahodyn station, about two kilometres from the Polish border in Volyn Oblast. A diplomatic train carrying former European leaders and current security advisors, returning from the YES conference in Kyiv, had departed the station shortly before the strike. No one was injured. Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) suggested the diplomatic train may have been the intended target; the Institute for the Study of War assessed the strike was meant to wound or kill European officials leaving Ukraine.
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Russian drones strike Kyiv-Warsaw train and infrastructure near Polish border, prompting Polish emergency meeting
On the morning of September 13, 2026, Russian drones struck infrastructure near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk international border crossing on the Ukraine-Poland border in Volyn Oblast, damaging a gas station, hitting a truck on the Polish side, and striking the locomotive of a Kyiv-Warsaw passenger train about two kilometers from the Polish border. Poland scrambled fighter jets, issued air alerts in Lublin and Podkarpackie voivodeships, and Prime Minister Donald Tusk convened an emergency meeting at the Government Centre for Security, warning that Russian escalation could reach Polish territory in the coming weeks. No passengers or railway workers were injured in the locomotive strike after a Ukrzaliznytsia monitoring group warned the crew in advance and gave an evacuation signal roughly 15 minutes before impact.
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Russian drone strike destroys Zaporizhzhia house, two civilians killed
A Russian drone strike on a private residential sector of Zaporizhzhia on the night of 11–12 September destroyed one house, killed two civilians and injured others. The head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration, Ivan Fedorov, reported the casualties and a wider pattern of oblast-wide bombardment.
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Ukraine's General Staff reports roughly 1,500 Russian personnel losses in past day
Ukraine's General Staff released its daily and cumulative Russian combat-loss update for September 12, 2026, reporting approximately 1,500 Russian personnel killed or wounded over the previous day and around 1,505,380 personnel lost since February 24, 2022. The update also tallied equipment losses across tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, air defense systems, drones, and other categories, with the General Staff noting that figures are subject to clarification.
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Russia strikes Ukraine overnight with Banderol missile and 161 drones; Kyiv residential building hit
Russia attacked Ukraine overnight on September 11 with an S8000 "Banderol" cruise missile and 161 strike drones, including Shahed, Gerbera, and Parodia decoy variants. Ukrainian air defense shot down or suppressed 138 drones, but hits were recorded at 19 locations and debris fell at three more. In Kyiv, a nine-story residential building caught fire and at least seven people were injured.
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Russian drone strike on Pavlohrad kills five, injures 67 including eight children
Russian drone strikes hit Pavlohrad in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on the evening of 10 September 2024, killing five people and injuring 67, including eight children. Local authorities declared 11 September a day of mourning in the city.
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Russian drone strike hits five locations in Kryvyi Rih overnight, damaging homes and broadcaster office
Russian strike drones attacked the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih during the night of 9–10 September 2025, hitting five locations in the Tsentralno-Miskyi and Saksahansky districts. Residential buildings, private houses, schools, cultural institutions and businesses were damaged, and the local office of public broadcaster Suspilne was also hit. Multiple people were reported injured, though official casualty counts initially differed.
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Russia hits Kyiv with massive missile and drone attack hours after Trump envoys leave
Russia launched a combined missile and drone assault on Kyiv overnight on September 7–8, striking the capital with ballistic and cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, and 166 strike drones. At least two people were killed, more than 50 civilian objects were damaged across multiple districts, and air defenses downed 175 of the incoming targets. The attack came shortly after US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner left the city following talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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Russian drone and missile attack hits five districts of Kyiv Oblast on the evening of 7 September
On the evening of 7 September 2026, Russian forces struck five districts of Kyiv Oblast with drones, ballistic and other missiles. The attack caused fires at industrial enterprises in Boryspil district, destroyed seven trucks, and damaged a logistics complex that was hit twice. A man in Bila Tserkva suffered shrapnel wounds, and private houses, apartment buildings and production facilities were damaged across multiple districts. All fires were later extinguished by emergency services.
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Russian strikes on Zaporizhzhia Oblast kill at least one, hit shopping centre over 5–7 September
Russian forces pounded Zaporizhzhia city and dozens of settlements across Zaporizhzhia Oblast on 5–7 September with drones, artillery, MLRS and airstrikes, killing at least one civilian and wounding dozens. A drone strike set a shopping centre on fire during the night of 6–7 September, and a separate drone attack on the city on 6 September killed a 74-year-old man and injured three other people.
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Russia strikes Ukraine overnight with 167 drones and missiles; passenger train attacked near Kherson
On September 5, Russia launched an overnight attack on Ukraine using ballistic missiles and 167 drones, about half of them jet-powered. Around midday the same day, Russian forces struck a passenger train heading to Kherson with several Shahed-type drones, injuring two people and damaging two diesel locomotives. The overnight attack was the largest in a series of escalating strikes hitting civilian infrastructure.
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Russian drones hit residential building in Zaporizhzhia in overnight attack on multiple oblasts
Russian forces struck Zaporizhzhia with drones overnight on 3–4 September, hitting a multi-storey residential building and starting a fire in two apartments, as part of a broader overnight drone barrage detected across several Ukrainian oblasts. The head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration, Ivan Fedorov, reported the fire and published footage of the aftermath on Telegram. Casualty reporting shifted across the day: initial accounts said no one was hurt in the building strike, while later reports described one woman injured.